Exhaustive Guide For Travelers To Buying And Using a Sim Card in India

Planning travel to India, you might want to stay in touch with your family and friends back there and would need to use internet services here in India. Using the international roaming services provided by your countrified provider could be quite expensive. So buying a sim card in India would be the best option available.
Here in this write-up, we will tell you the complete process of buying and using a sim in India along with which service provider you should use and whether the Indian sim would work on your phone.

1. Documentation for buying a sim in India

The Government of India has tightened its rules for sales of prepaid sim card to foreign customers unlike before where you had to just submit your passport and Visa and you would get a sim. Here are the documents you would need to get a sim in India:

2 colored passport size photographs of yourself.

A photocopy of any proof of address of your country of residence which could be your passport, driving license or any document approved by the government.

A photocopy of the personal details page of your passport clearly showing your photograph and other details.

A photocopy of your Indian Visa.

A proof of address where you will be staying in India during your visit. This could be a letter from your hotel or any hostel or private organization where you plan to stay clearly mentioning that you are a guest and your period of stay.

Pro Tip: Always try to get a photograph with a white background and clear photocopies to avoid KYC form rejections.

Important Note:
Always remember to carry original copies of these documents with you at all times while you are out for buying a sim card.

2. Where to buy a sim card in India

On arrival in India, you can buy a SIM card at the international airport from the kiosks of service providers such as Jio or Airtel, which are located almost immediately after you clear customs. Alternatively, you can also buy the SIM card from the official stores of the service providers or vendors in the downtown such as shopping malls. You can find the stores near you on the map by clicking this link

The cost of buying a sim in India is based on your plan. You always have the option to buy a plan that suits you, keeping in mind the tariff rates which we will be explaining in the next service provider section.

3. Which service provider to use

There are a lot of mobile service providers in India but we will be discussing only 3 of them which are Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone. These are the best and most consistent service providers in India. All of this 3 offer almost similar plans but if you would ask us to choose the best of these 3, we would suggest Jio as it is a bit reliable and has cost-effective tariff plans. Moreover, it works on the 4G spectrum and hence the quality of voice and video calls is exceptional.We have listed down some best plans for you from all these service providers

Service Provider

Plan(In Rs.)

Calls/Day (National)

SMS/Day

4G Internet/Day

Standard Internet(64Kbps)

Validity

Jio

Rs. 149

Unlimited

100

1GB

Unlimited

1 month

Jio

Rs. 299

Unlimited

100

2GB

Unlimited

1 month

Airtel

Rs. 349

Unlimited

Unlimited

2GB

Nil

1 month

Vodafone

Rs. 349

Unlimited

Unlimited

2GB

Nil

1 month

Note: All these plans are packed with free National roaming

We would suggest using online services such as Facebook and Whatsapp to connect to your family and friends in your country of residence as it would straight away cut your costs by one third. Still if you want to have a look at the international tariff plans, check them out here: Jio | Airtel | Vodafone

Recharing your sim

In case you run out of balance any time, you can visit your nearest sim card retailer, official service provider store. You can also recharge online anytime using Freecharge. Freecharge is a leading online service portal and frequently provides any offers to new customers. Moreover, Freecharge supports most of the credit and debit cards available worldwide.

Deactivation of sim

When you are leaving India, make sure you deactivate your sim by visiting any nearest official service provider store. In case you are running late, just make sure you leave balance less than Rs.20 in your sim card and destroy your sim, by doing so, your sim card will be automatically deactivated after a period of 90 days due to non-usage norms stated by the Telecom Regulation Authority of India.

4. Will an Indian sim work in a foreign make phone

In many Western countries, mobile phones are locked to some specific frequency to receive signals from some specific carriers. Before coming to India, you should check if your phone supports bands serviceable in India. You can check it here. If it shows that your phone is not supported, you need not worry, you just need to go to your manufacturer service centre to get it unlocked or else if your phone is out of warranty and you want to test it out yourself, you can read how to unlock your phone yourself here. If you are going to use a mobile phone in India only for calls and messages, without accessing the internet, then buying a GSM phone is another better option available. Jio also provides a feature rich Jio phone which costs only around Rs.1500 or $24(American).

Pro Tip: Never buy phones from street vendors as it could be stolen property

If you have any other question regarding any sim buying and usage issues, do ask us in the comments below

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Reviews

This experience with City On Pedals was a priceless, genuine Amritsar experience that I would highly recommend to travelers and tourists alike and is something you can’t easily get unless you’re with a well connected local.– Charm Bartolay

I believe I was the first ever customer, when I did this tour in mid-December.
The guide had an incredible knowledge about the city, its heritage, architecture, culture and history, as well as the culinary scene!
A must do if when you visit Amritsar!– Jens Fisker

My wife and I took this tour after finding out about it through Instagram. It was a great experience. We cycled to areas not found in any guide books, and to places we wouldn’t even be able to find if tried. Many great food stops along the way. Can’t recommend this enough!– Steven G

One of the best instant connection I have made in life….City on Pedals, the journey started with a simple comment on instagram picture and ended with best of the experience, lots of cultural information about Amritsar and whole lot of finger licking food. Rishab and team is doing great work. The enthusiasm and passion for City on Pedals is unmatched. Would love to do it again and again. Keep it up guys….you are doing the best!!– Bhumika

We were approached by two very polite reps with information about their cycle tour – it sounded really interesting and we signed up for the next day. And they delivered what they have promised – an exciting exploration through Amritsar’s parks, streets and alleys, discovering hidden corners and learning about the history, architecture and culinary treats. I can only recommend it – if you like to get up early 😉– Bhoermann

Our City on Pedals excursion proved there is much more to Amristar than the Golden Temple.
An excellent digital marketer, Rishabh let us know about his company by commenting on one of my Instagram posts (with an #Amritsar hashtag)—and within minutes my husband and I were able to quickly and easily book a tour for the following morning. The next morning, we were delighted to discover that we would be the only ones on the tour: a private exploration of the city with Rishabh and his associate.– Brian

We were a fam of 4 (husband+wife + 2 teenage kids), who took a 6 am cycling trip with City on Pedals, in Amritsar. We were very ably guided through the city with Rishab leading from the front and Aman bringing up the rear. They took us to a bunch of eating places and heritage places too! It was a leisurely 4 hour trip and Rishab was an extremely gracious host -treating us to jalebis, tea, lassi, kulchas, puris, halwa and at the same time interspersing this with historical, cultural and contemporary Amritsar gems(some hidden ones too). Highly recommend this adventure.– Aginder

“Great experience, worth the effort!” – Arianna

We had booked the two morning walking tours, which included the Golden Temple and the hidden gems of the city. It was hard to get up that early but it proved to be incredible! Our first guide Aman was extremely knowledgeable and showed us the Golden Temple, the kitchens, the morning ceremony and much more! The second tour which followed immediately after was like a behind the scenes Amritsar, and at our request they even took us to Jainawala Bag!
If you’re looking for a genuine experience to discover the city, City on Pedals is the only one you need!Read more on TripAdvisor ≫

“Nicely conducted tour with caring guide Aman” – Panthil

Did the street food tour . There were about 6 stops. Every stop served excellent varieties of street food like gol gappa, paneer pakoda, momos , soda, aam papad, gulab jamun, jalebi etc. The main course was at brothers pure veg dhaba , the thali served there was world class. It had authentic punjabi taste with medium spices. The food stalls were very hygienic. We did the tour by cycle rickshaw. Had a memorable time. The guide and cycle rickshaw pullers were very nice. Five out five stars to this tour!Read more on TripAdvisor ≫

“Nice Street Food Tour” – Eren Hasan

We went on a bicycle street food tour with Aman which was great fun! We had a good selection of food and he kept checking that we were okay on the bikes on the challenging Amritsar roads!

They are a really conscientious company who seem to genuinely care about giving a good experience to the customers 🙂Read more on TripAdvisor ≫

“Nice evening spent trying Street food on bicycles.” – Jasnesh

Went with my brother (only 2 of us on the tour). Guide was Aman. He was very humble. We are of Indian background so knew most of the food, that’s why Aman himself didn’t go too much into the details of each food. Visited around 8-9 stalls. It was a nice experience to try the local street food of Amritsar. Favorite was the jalebi at the end and momo and gol gappa. Just be careful while cycling in the busy streets. It is not for the faint-hearted.Read more on TripAdvisor ≫

“Fantastic Tours & Guides” – Nicola

I did 3 tours with this company, the Wagah Border Tour, the Golden Temple Walking Tour and the Amritsar Heritage Walking Tour. They were all really good but my favourite was the Golden Temple one. The guides are very knowledgeable and the tours are great value. I can’t recommend them enough.Read more on TripAdvisor ≫

The Hidden Secrets Cycle Tour and Golden Temple are must do activities when in Amritsar.

You will see sights and learn things that even lifelong residents of Amritsar do not know. It is definitely worth skipping that 6th kingfisher, setting your alarm and getting up early to enjoy these tours and the warm hospitality of this company and the people of Punjab.

I would like to say a huge thanks to Rishab for accommodating me at literally the last minute (I’m sorry for waking you up) and to Amandeep for 2 great Tours and for kindly giving me lifts to the start of the bike tour and to my hotel. The ride on a back of a scooter was an experience in itself.

Thanks and best wishes! I look forward to following your success on social media and be reminded of a truly unique birthday 🙂Read more on TripAdvisor ≫